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I read NPR's article and the advice I got from it was to not overthink the topic to much because it becomes awkward and loses the purpose of showing what the student is like, you should also not write a sloppy essay that took no effort to write. This was useful to me because it shows that colleges want to know about the student and who they are and what they are looking for in a college so they can be more involved with the student.

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I read the Business Insider article, "7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants". The article states that admission officers only spend a mere 12 minutes looking over each college application. It's important to make your application stand out in the few minutes it is being read (among the thousands of other applicants). It is also useful to know that your application is skimmed because you can structure your writing properly. Instead of wasting time on writing useless information, you can put more effort into thing things they truly care about.

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I Read the NPR article, and it gave some really great advice for writing college essays, and finding a college that best suits you for another 2-4 years. The article that was shown was super helpful because it gives details about how you can write your essay in multiple ways,and how you want your college experience to go

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I read the NPR article and I really liked the advice it had on college essays and finding the right college experience. This was helpful because it explained the importance of showing who you are in your essay so the college can have more insight on you. It was also helpful because it made me rethink what I want in a college.

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I read the Admission Committee article. It spoke about what the committee usually is, how they act, and how to gain their favor. Specifically the advice I focused on were the questions given by Harvard. I found this extremely useful, because not only does it take the stress off of "it's all just grades," it means they are actually looking into you as a person, not just another number, and that hopefully means that you will get an education, and won't be treated as another number.

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I read NPR article allow us; those whom want to go to college and submit applications. It gives us a brief of where the applications go and who revise them. In the article not also gives us information on how everything goes through process but also gives a motive of a way to persuade admissions counselors for the college you're interested in attending, to engage them. When they revise essays, a half essay where it's scattered nowhere the essay begins it's a no. Lastly, knowing what you want as career and the type of college experience you'll want to attend can help narrow down the list for colleges, finding out if that college is a fit for you or not.

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I read the NPR article and learned about how college essays are very effective in presenting your personal abilities. It can be direct proof to who you are as an individual, what your goals are, and your experience. It also shows professionalism, and is a way you can be communicative, especially in these times when we are at distance in many circumstances, and can't present yourself in-person.

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I read NPR´s article What the people who read your college application really think and so far while there are many perspectives on your application and the type of person you give off in your application this process of choosing whether you stay on campus or not depends on sheer luck, there are many students who have the grades that makes them blend in with other students who have about the same grades and does not show much for the revisers.
So for that matter the article says you need to stand out for your chances will go higher due to whatever you put in your application that makes you unique to others, your essay needs to be well done instead of rushed, look at your essay like a pancake, you have to be patient to flip it and it will be well cooked.
And lastly make sure the school you are applying to is good enough for you, count the pros and cons, just don't rush it and take time to think about what you like and don't like about it.

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After reading the NPR i think the most important information i got was to engage with the colleges your interested with like joining Skype and phone interviews with an admissions counselor. This is important to me because who better to talk to when trying to get into a college than the admissions counselor.

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Academic criteria are important to Yale’s selective admissions process, but we look at far more than test scores and transcripts. They look at recommendations , essays, and extra activities (clubs). Also if you are offered an interview take it to help you stand out more. I  already got accepted into UTA so I know what's important now and these are the things you need if you want a great chance to get in to any school.

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I read the npr article that touched on reflection. From the article i understood that its important to find what suits your needs and career path. You should look into what schools offer the best program for your felid of choice. It'd also be helpful to see what school has the most successful alumni, again from you feild.

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I read the NPR article . the advice was to not do a sloppy essay but dot overthink it as well. Usually, whenever I wite essays I tend to overthink it which can become awkward as said in the article.

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I read the NPR article. The most important piece of information I got from the article is that the committee hardly spends anytime looking at your application. The tip is to make yourself stand out and show that you are different from the rest of the crowd.

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I read the business inside article and what I found of importance was that they will start of with a judgement of character from the first conversation or contact you have so make a good impression.

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I read the NPR article, and my main take-away was to not over-think the application process. This is useful since I have a tendency to over-think things. According to the article, application reviewers seem to know if you are over-thinking, and this can create a bad first impression, which is basically all you have in the process. It is best to show who you really are in your essay and application.

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Cloe Schultz                         After reading the NPR article, I learned that most schools only spend a sliver of time looking at applications. Something I found very useful is the tips for writing a college essay. Straying away from producing a lazy essay, but also not overthinking it is a skill essential to obtain for college applications.      

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Cloe Schultz                         After reading the NPR article, I learned that most schools only spend a sliver of time looking at applications. Something I found very useful is the tips for writing a college essay. Straying away from producing a lazy essay, but also not overthinking it is a skill essential to obtain for college applications.      

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I read the NPR article and learned why college essays are so vital to your applications. When a college looks at its applicants' grades and various test scores, they are only looking at numbers. When they read your essay they gain insight into who you are as a person rather than just as a scholar. You learn more about a person's character through their essay than you can learn about their intelligence through their grades.

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I read the Yale article about Advice on Putting Together Your Application and it said to include your main two letters of recommendation from core teachers. This is useful (at least to me) because I was planning on having one of my elective teachers who I've had for four years write one of my main two and I'll no longer be doing that.

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I read the NPR article and essentially it revealed what college admission committees look for when reviewing ones application, specifically at Holly Cross in Massachusetts. What I got from the article is that typically colleges look at your grades and test scores and will make a decision there, however it is also common for them to look beyond that at your college essays and maybe even call your high school counselor to see who you are as a person. The best piece of advice that I got from this article is to be authentic in your college essay and to show an actual interest in the schools that you apply to. I find this to be really important because it is valuable advice that I could use considering that I am currently writing my college essay.

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I read the NPR article and it gave me insight into what colleges are really looking for in the essays. The essays allow admissions to get a glimpse into who you are as both a student and a person.

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i learned that when applying there are many different factor that make a applicant valuable but it varies from student to student. one might be good in sports, or one might be book smart it just depends.

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I read the NPR article and was most intrigued by how they look further than our transcript. Focusing also on our essay and our 'story' while still taking our past accomplishments into consideration.

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I read the NPR article. What I found useful was to be more engaged because that is what they look for. It's not all about grades, it's more about how the student's really are.

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i read the npr article and learned that when applying to colleges transcripts are not the only thing they look at. Essays are a very crucial part of a applicable, it gives them perspective of why i’m apply and what makes me interested in that college

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After Reading The NPR Article It made me realize how important the College Essay is. I thought that colleges accepted you only based on your Transcript. Turns out your Essay is the most crucial part. Its useful for me when writing my College Essays to follow these important tools listed in the article. In order to get accepted I need to make them Interested with the topic I'm writing about. If I am writing about myself and why I want to go to that school I can't be writing about something that's completely irrelevant to the original topic.

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i read the Ethical college admissions; Trust and verify article. i found the most interesting bit of information is that they don't really read over your application. They briefly skim it to see if you can even catch there attention. and that they do not have time to fact check most application
.

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I read the Perdue Owl article, and one thing that i found particularly interesting to me was the part were the author says that "when applicants use answers to other schools' questions for our essays; we're sensitive to this. Poorly written essays are a bad reflection on the applicant." I found this to be important to me because i had not really thought about that when it came to applying to multiple colleges.

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I read the NPR article, and the piece of information i found the most interesting was that they only spend about two minutes looking over your essay to decided if your accepted or put on hold. this is helpful because it gives a clear time frame for which you need to capture their interests with the information you present to them about yourself.

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The article I read was Business Insider: 7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants. The advice I read that was most appealing to me was how your personality matters as it needs to be shown in your application, I found this really useful because I realized that the admissions officers want to find applicants who are passionate and confident about going to the school, and that way you can really stand out more than other applicants and it could really determine your application acceptance.

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I read the Business Insider article, the advice I took from this article is to let my personality shine in the essay. I found this useful because now my essay will show the real me, and not the me I think that they want.

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I read the NPR article, "What the people who read your college application really think". The advice that I took from this is that the connection that you create with the colleges that you're interested in is very important. It shows the colleges that you are taking the time and effort to learn about their school.

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I read the Yale article on application advice, and I found the advice that using my own voice when writing a college essay is important to me and encouraging. During my time in high school I thought using more complex words in my paragraphs would make it look nicer, but I never felt comfortable using those words and then most likely forgetting about them afterwards. I think using my own language could make my essay a lot more genuine.

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I found the advice on visiting schools from the NPR article to be most useful bit of advice. I never thought that visiting a school could get you higher chances of being admitted into that school.

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I read the NPR article. The best and most relevant piece of advice I received from the article was to not overthink your essay and the prompt to an excessive extent. When you over analyze the questions and (more importantly) your answers to them, you tend to revise the text to the point where it becomes awkward and robotic. I never knew how the admissions process truly worked until reading this article. Based off of McDermott's responses as the admissions director at Holy Cross, the people reading and rating our essays are seeking for balance and depth from the future students. I need to work on creating a well put together essay that is not overthought.

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What The People Who Read Your College Application Really Think

Their advice was to demonstrate my interests, to really work on the application, and to make sure the school I want to go to is truly for me. I think this advice is useful because it reminds you that there is a person behind the robotic seeming admission machine and that you are trying to persuade them. You need to highlight clearly and almost dumb down yourself as a person into a easy to read and understand file while still being able to convey that you are complicated and that you match what they are looking for, grades, interests, and otherwise.

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I read the Purdue University article called "Advice from Admissions Representatives." The advice that I took away from the article is to read the question and focus on answering the question that was asked. I found it useful mostly because it can happen that someone could possibly misread or not understand the question fully and they could write a whole good essay on what they thought was correct but it could be totally wrong in what the admissions office asks. Being sure to read and understand the asked question helps a ton, it could determine what you write about whether it's right or wrong.

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After reading the Inside Higher Ed. article I realized how much trust they put into the applicants. The most important line from this article was, "..colleges are interested in authenticity rather than heroism". I found it useful because I've been thinking about my application essay and how I could beef it up, but knowing that that authenticity is what sets you apart from others made me grasp on to the fact that there's no need for embellishment at all.

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I read the Business Insider article, and the main points that I took away from it were to be respectful, be yourself, be interactive, and be curious. I, like many other people, assumed that college admissions offices and officers were only concerned with how you can make their school look academically. Now I realize how important it is to universities that their students bring more than just academia through their doors (or screens). It is important for you to be humbly unique in order to stand out among the countless other applicants.

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I read the Business Insider. The thing that stood out to me the most was that they note a lot of different stuff such as your personality or what you want to do. With this information they then formulate whether or not you would be a good enough fit for the school and if they feel this is not so then this can impact you negatively.

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I read the NPR article and what i grasped the most out of was that we need to engage with the colleges we'd like to attend. Colleges want to see more of the student because there grades doesn't say everything about them. Colleges want to see you are interested and ready for college.

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I read 7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants. The part that stuck with me was to ask questions even if they seem obvious. Usually, in those type of situations, I bite my tongue because I don't want a simple or sarcastic response. Asking questions shows more engagement and gives off a better look.

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I read the NPR article called "What The People Who Read Your College Application Really Think" and it confirmed most of my previous understandings of the admissions process. The article talks specifically about demonstrating interest in schools via well-written "Why X School" essays or by doing campus tours. To achieve this, their advice is to spend time significant time reflecting on life events and writing meaningful essays. I find this useful because it encourages me to write my "Why X School" essays carefully and thoughtfully. I need to spend time researching and writing about what I look forward to at given universities.

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I read the NPR article and found out that asking questions about the school puts you in a better place. Engagement is very important because they know we're genuinely interested in the school. I found this advice helpful as i'm too nervous to really speak up in situations like that but in this instance now i know what to do better.

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I read Prep Scholar, i found it very useful to know that you should make your application the very best since it has to pass through two admission committees. It was also very important to do very good in your classes and test and participate in extracurricular activities that will help you get into colleges. This is very important since the start of high school and not only just one or two years. The more you have in your application the better.

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I read the NPR article called "What The People Who Read Your College Application Really Think" and it gave me insight as to what they are looking for in an application, aside from the grades and test scores alone. It gives advice about how you should interact with the school, write your essay, and how to reflect in order to know which school is actually the right one for you. The most important thing that I took from the article is knowing that the college uses your essay as a judge of character, and that it should be well thought out and organized but not too showy.

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I chose to read the NPR article. Some really useful advice I got from the article was about your application. Your application is more than just grades, yes grades play a huge part in your acceptance, but your essay holds great importance as well. Your essay tells the college about your character and how you are as a person. So it is very crucial that you take your time to perfect that essay and make sure it successfully portrays who you are as a person.

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I read the Prep scholar, "Who is the admission committee, what do they look for?" One advice I found useful was that you should do your absolute best in school regarding grades, attendance, participating in extracurricular etc. Especially being a senior now, I find it super important to try your best in every test and every class, the admission committee really looks well on what you have done and what you haven't because of this, it is even useful to freshman since they are starting now, grades matter everything you do in high school matters this is why I find it super important. Colleges and Universities take into consideration everything. Admission teams are ROLLING.

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I read 7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants. What I found helpful was how it said to ask questions even they seemed like really simple ones. If I were to go in I now know to ask questions because I wouldn't have had any questions prepared at all before this and now I can look engaged and leave a better impression on the admission officers

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I read "What the People Who Read Your College Essay Really Think" article. This article portrays the importance of showing interest in the university you want to attend. You may send several applications, so admissions counselors want to know why you chose to apply to their college. Showing interest, such as visiting the campus, or calling counselors also shows effort.

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I read the article "7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants." I found the advice about making sure your personality shows through your application to be the most helpful. Grades and test scores are important when applying to college, but they aren't the only thing admissions look at. In order to separate yourself, your application has to reflect more than just grades and test scores. It has to show what kind of person you are outside of being smart or getting good grades. I found it useful because it highlights that being a good person does carry weight in your application. Schools are looking for positive impacts and people who will thrive in their environment. They don't want robots, they want a diverse range of people. Grades are important, but your personality and how you represent yourself are important too.

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I read the article titled: 7 admissions officers share the things that they never tell applicants. The article outlined what Admissions Officers look for in viable students and pupils. They talked about how a student is more than just test scores and rank and grades, but is viewed as a person, too. While those things are important to be admitted,  that's not all their looking for, they want to know how you will contribute to the respective environment. You also want to make a good impression of Admissions Officers, not responding rudely, but being prepared and having your application stand out among great candidates. This really help me to put in perspective that I should not put things are my application that I know they want to hear, but be myself. After all, if they pass up on me, that is their loss because you cannot let get it underneath your skin.

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I read the article titled: 7 admissions officers share the things that they never tell applicants. The article outlined what Admissions Officers look for in viable students and pupils. They talked about how a student is more than just test scores and rank and grades, but is viewed as a person, too. While those things are important to be admitted, that's not all their looking for, they want to know how you will contribute to the respective environment.

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I read the Business Insider article titled: 7 college admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants. The article outlined things that Admissions Officers found that applicants should do to become viable

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I read the article from Yale University titled 'Advice on Putting Together Your Application'. They had some great information in there discussing how you don't always have to be the greatest at everything in school, clubs, or recommendations. Rather than having a bunch of teachers and professors write great things about you in the same subject that you are interested in, you should focus on receiving a diverse and insightful application that shows your talent at from several perspectives. Additionally, you can still get accepted even if something isn't perfect. Don't let yourself become too frustrated that one of your aspects isn't as great and focus on the great talents you do have. I found this article useful because it shows everyone that you can be your true self at school, home, in your community, and you don't have to change your appearance for an application. This is great because it allows you to show your character, which in turn is what schools even at the Ivy League level want to see in their applications.

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I read the NPR article, to me it was something I was curious about. It took weight off my shoulders knowing that they don't mainly focus on grading but what I've been part of and who I am as a person. I can work really hard on an assignment but may not get a good grade. It's really about the effort and what to contribute. It is more about character and what you want to do to help the community.

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Sammy Booth                              I read the Yale article and from what I read I found out that even the ivy league schools are encouraging students to be their true self in the essays and short answers. They aren't looking for fancy wording and intelligent facts. They want to know you outside of your school and work life. Learning about your personality more is also a quality they look at when going through your application.  

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Sammy Booth                              I read the Yale article and from what I read I found out that even the ivy league schools are encouraging students to be their true self in the essays and short answers. They aren't looking for fancy wording and intelligent facts. They want to know you outside of your school and work life. Learning about your personality more is also a quality they look at when going through your application.  

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I read the NPR article, the biggest thing I got from the article are that college application are just like a job, the more connection you have with that company/school the better. Even though you might be the next Elon Musk or Steve Jobs without those connection the colleges will decline your admission just like that. No matter how hard working you are or how smart you are, sometimes they just decline you just because you were very successful during high school so they want to give you a taste of failure. This type of system really annoys me the most since getting accepted are 75% luck base instead of academic achievements.

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i read the NPR article and from what i read i understand that the admittance process is very frustrating and difficult depending on where you apply. There are many people who will help you out however and your college application will be thoroughly looked over. The article does include tips to help you make it easier on yourself when applying.

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I read the 7 things that goes on in the admission office. I am aware that I have to stand out but it's kinda hard to stand out when everyone want's to stand out too. It's like picking the brightest poodle and all of the poodles are dyed neon.

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NPR
Tip three in this article talks about reflecting, which i believe to be the most important thing to do when applying for colleges. It says to think about why you want to go to a certain college and figure out what you liked about high school so you can use that to find a suiting college.

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7 admissions officers share the things that they never tell applicants-
As I read this article, I thought that it was extremely helpful because it provides the student with information about the college admissions that not everybody knows.This information can help students with the improving of their college essays. What helped me the most was the part that mentions that the admissions officers only have 1 hour to read 5 applications, meaning that they only get to have 12 minutes per essay. That made me realize that if I want my essay to do well I have to make it short and make sure that the first sentences are what grabs a reader's attention.

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I read the NPR article, and I think the most helpful piece of advice is that your grades DON'T always speak for themselves. If your college essay seems like you didn't try, it can make you seem careless. I think that's also relevant to your resume as well. If two students have similar scores and averages, but one has done hours of community service and shown discipline and dedication by spending years in extra curriculars, it speaks more to the student's character.

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I read the NPR article and the biggest thing i took a way from it was how little time they go over  the essay after reading so many of them and so i think its important to try and stand out in your essay but to not try and force anything to much since the reviewers might get a different perspective of you then you were initially trying to show.

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After reading the NPR article, I can say with full confidence that my perspective of the "holistic admissions process" has been fundamentally altered. College admissions officers not only take students' academic proficiency and scores into account, but truly attempt to analyze the applicant on a deeply personal level. I was shocked to find that the officers tasked with assessing applications directly comb through essays and resumes to construct a profile of a student's personality and aptitudes.

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i read the NPR article i learned that when it comes to getting accepted into colleges that its not just about having the best grades and GPA. and that your character also has a lot to do with getting accepted and i also learned that depending on the people reviewing your essay that there perception of you really matters.

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I read the NPR article. I got an unexpected takeaway from the article—personality. A person on the committee that decides admission mentioned that her feelings played a role, and another person on the committee mentioned how a candidate sounded "arrogant". This is really eye opening as it shows the value of taking time on your essays and such. The trick is being able to present yourself in an admirable way over mere text. That's the biggest hurdle students need to overcome and invest time and effort into.

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From NPR's "What the People Who Read Your College Application Really Think" I found the most useful piece of advice to be "don't phone it in". That piece of advice is referring to college essays, as the article recommends to put quite a bit of effort into it without overthinking the topic to the point where the essay becomes awkward and doesn't represent the student. I find this incredibly useful as I am currently attempting to write my college essay, and I often want to give it to both sides: giving up and writing a poor essay as well as overthinking it.

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I read the NPR, and i learned that feelings do matter when considering student. Its also helpful to know not to phone in, admission counselors dont want to read a half baked essay.

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after listening to NPR i learned that one of the major factors going into the consideration of accepting a student, is their feelings. If the admissions board feels like you are not fit for the college, or are lacking confidence, you are extremely arrogant, or in any other way not a proper fit for the college you may not be accepted.

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- Advice on Putting Together Your Application(Yale)

The article explained that standardized test scores are not as impactful as they seem to be. As long as the scores are in the school's necessary range, test scores shouldn't be major stressors. Admission advisors would much rather students focus on meaningful activities like classwork or extracurricular activities. I found this advice insightful, because I have yet to take the SAT or ACT and I've only recently started studying.

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After Reading through Purdue Owl's advise article, I found that many of the people reading our essays believe that us applicants don't put enough effort into essays, and that people will overlook how important an essay is to the college; along with that they strongly advised against using one generic essay that you hand out to every school you apply for, and to write strong essays for each application, but to keep it short enough to not exert yourself writing an entire biography for each and any college you want to try your luck with.

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I read the Inside Higher Ed. Article and it was very daunting. The author explains how in today's day and age it is very hard for colleges to verify if what you put on your college essay is true or embellished. This scares me as I can be competing against High School students who lie on their college application to get ahead. It seems to me that embellishing on your college essay is the only way to stay competitive and the article agrees.

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I read the NPR and I found it extremely helpful to know the admission counselors look behind your grades. In the article it says that the counselors use facts and feelings to decide if they will admit you, which means how you put the transcript together and the tone it carries means a lot.

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I read the Business Insider article and the best piece of advice that I read is your admission letter needs to get to the point quick and needs to stand out among the others. I sometimes start my essay off slow or go into detail about one specific thing which makes it a lot less interesting.

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I read the Purdue Owl article and what was easily the best piece of advice for me personally is to not overthink the prompt. in the past I have done exactly that to an extent that i ended up not even answering the prompt and answered a completely different question.

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Time to get together the transcripts, the test scores and put the final touches on those personal essays. It's college application season, again.

To a lot of students, the process seems wrapped in a shroud of mystery. What exactly happens when you send your application out into the unknown only to... wait?

Well, here's a glimpse behind the curtain at one school:

Inside a tiny conference room at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, the admissions committee is preparing to review 23 applications. They'll spend about two minutes on each before deciding whether to accept or deny admission, or place the application on hold.

To speed things along, the committee uses a lot of jargon, like "L-B-B" for late blooming boy, and "R-J" for rejection.

If it sounds like they're cutting corners, know that before the committee meets around the table, each application gets a close look from two of the members.

Then it's condensed into a single one-page profile. The one for this student says he comes off just a bit arrogant in his essay and interview:

"Academically he has everything. I wonder if a counselor call might be enlightening?" asks one member of the committee.

"It sounds like maybe he could work on it and be cognizant of it. I mean, he's strong academically," says another.

A third member chimes in, chuckling, "I think his classmates could bring him down to reality."

Ann McDermott is director of admissions at Holy Cross. "You have 13 people in a full committee room and 13 different perspectives so it can go any different way," she says.

And you hear from a lot of applicants at schools around the country that the admissions process can be frustrating. Disappointed applicants complain that when it comes to discerning between hundreds of students who seem to have the grades, teacher recommendations and test scores, the process comes down to luck.

But is there a method to the madness? It, of course, varies from big state universities to small private colleges, like Holy Cross, which will admit 700 freshman this fall.

McDermott says there's no set formula. It's both an art and a science. "We balance our feelings with some facts."

Yes, feelings. That's because sometimes the facts, like test scores and grades, don't tell the whole story of the student.

She offers some tips on application Dos and Don'ts for prospective applicants.
Tip 1: Engage
Visiting the campus, having a Skype or phone interview with an admissions counselor, or sitting in on a class shows admissions counselors you're interested in that particular school. It also gives the school a chance to get to know you better.

"Just like a teacher in the classroom wants a student engaged, we want students engaged in the process with us. I think it makes for better discernment of what a good fit is for both them and for us," says McDermott.
Tip 2: Don't "phone-it-in"
When it comes to the application, admissions counselors say the biggest red flag is a sloppy, half-baked essay.

"Or over-thinking the topics so much that it becomes awkward and doesn't convey the student as it should," McDermott adds.
Tip 3: Take time to reflect
Taking time to think about the kind of college experience you want can help you narrow down your list to schools that suit your personal and career goals. While you're making sure you're a good fit for the school, make sure it's also a good fit for you.

McDermott's last thought: "I think [high school] students should spend a little of time thinking what they liked in high school, what they didn't like, who they are, and not just going and rushing off and looking at schools and getting in the frenzy."
Kirk Carapezza is an alumnus of College of the Holy Cross and writes for WGBH's blog, On Campus. Lydia Emmanouilidou contributed to this report.

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What The People Who Read Your College Application Really Think

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Time to get together the transcripts, the test scores and put the final touches on those personal essays. It's college application season, again. To a lot of students, the process seems wrapped in a shroud of mystery. What exactly happens when you send your application out into the unknown only to...

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"Can I just make something up?" A number of years ago one of my students asked that question about his college essay. He had what he thought was a great essay topic about how he had saved someone's life. The only problem was that the incident hadn't actually happened.

I responding by suggesting that he call the dean of admissions at his first-choice college and ask him the same question. His reluctance to do so showed that he already knew the answer. I hammered home the point that misrepresenting himself was wrong and an honor offense, and that colleges are interested in authenticity rather than heroism. I told him that any college admissions officer would detect instantly that the story was not genuine.

I'm not as confident of that last assertion today. Most students applying to college would be appalled to learn how little time is spent reading their applications compared with how much time they spend preparing them. The demands of reading more applications without significantly adding reading staff means that something has to give, and that something is the depth to which an admission officer can carefully read and evaluate an individual application.

Recognizing that reality has made many college counselors change to bullet-point college recommendations for fear that admission officers don't have time to do more than skim an old-fashioned recommendation letter. I have heard the arguments for committee-based evaluation, where readers work in teams, but I am unconvinced that it makes for a more thorough or better reading process.

Exhibit #2 is the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. As we enter a new admissions cycle one, of the challenges for our profession is mitigating the damage done by that criminal conspiracy and trying to restore public confidence in the college admissions process.

I have several times made the point that no college admission professionals have been implicated in the wrong-doing and that Operation Varsity Blues therefore shouldn't be referred to as an "admissions scandal." That's a good thing. But it's also the case that no admission officers were involved in exposing the fraud. A couple of school-college counselors performed heroic service for the profession and for society, calling colleges upon noticing that their students were being admitted as recruited athletes in sports they had never played, but would the fraud have been discovered by admission officers without the calls?

Is that even a reasonable expectation? Should admission officers be expected to be able to discern what is true and what is fiction, or at least embellishment?

A recent Wall Street Journal article concluded that Operation Varsity Blues isn't likely to change admission practices. While a number of institutions have conducted investigations into their procedures for admitting athletic recruits as a result of the scandal, the selective colleges contacted by the WSJ indicated that there will be few changes to the evaluation of applications. By and large, colleges will trust that the information provided by applicants is accurate. A spokesperson for Dartmouth College stated, "It is not our policy to suspect every student of falsifying records," while a spokesperson for Brown University added, "You have to trust people at some point."

Those responses are both realistic and unsatisfying. There is no way that admission offices have the time or the ability to fact-check every part of every student's application. At the same time, arguing in the wake of Operation Varsity Blues that the admissions process must be an honor system will not reassure a public that wants to believe that the college admissions process is fundamentally fair and can't understand how kids from wealthy families can receive scarce admissions slots to elite colleges as water polo recruits when they've never played water polo.

"Trust, but verify" is a line often credited to President Reagan regarding nuclear disarmament, but is actually an old Russian proverb most recently cited in an episode of HBO's Chernobyl miniseries. "Trust, but verify" implies a balancing act between an optimistic view that others have principles and will try to do the right thing and a realistic determination not to be so naïve as to be taken advantage of.

How can colleges be trusting without being naïve? The keys are making sure that a student's application has integrity and that decisions are made on information that hasn't necessarily been verified, but is verifiable.

In talking about the integrity of an application, we are not making a judgment about the student's personal integrity, but rather whether the application tells a story that is consistent and supported by the student's experiences and choices. We would expect a nursing applicant to have had academic training and extracurricular choices that support a desire to help others. A student who highlights their love of community service but has only one or two short-term service opportunities is probably not as committed as he or she wants to claim.

The distinction between information that is verified and verifiable is more subtle, but more important. There are more colleges that extend trust to applicants by allowing them to self-report grades and test scores rather than requiring an official transcript and score reports when they apply. But grades and scores are verifiable by having students submit final transcripts and test scores once the student enrolls. Multiple admission officers from institutions with self-reporting have told me that in any given year they might encounter a handful of discrepancies between what the student reports and what a transcript shows, and that most of those are inadvertent rather than an attempt to deceive.

What is harder to verify is the information that comes through the "voice" part of the application. Is the student really the founder of a club or service organization and is the commitment genuine and deep or a way to pad one's college resume? Is the student truly an "independent child-care provider" or the client of an independent consultant trying to make babysitting look more impressive? Can admission officers tell the difference between genuine accomplishment and embellishment? I applaud colleges that have reduced the number of spaces for activities on their application, because most students feel the need to fill every line, and I hope that colleges aren't rewarding students and adults who are more adept at packaging.

Then there is ethnicity. The attention given to affirmative action in college admission has convinced the public that ethnicity is a huge "plus-factor" in admission. Certainly ethnicity is one of the many forms of diversity essential for building an educational community. The Wall Street Journa l article reported that college admission offices tend not to verify the ethnicity an applicant lists on the application. I think that's appropriate, but colleges need to be able to distinguish between students whose cultural heritage is an important part of their identity and those who happen to have ethnicity somewhere in the family background.

Last year's Operation Varsity Blues scandal means that college admissions can't return to business as usual. We need to ensure that the admissions process is fair and equitable, that we don't allow those with money to cut in line and that we don't reward those who make things up or embellish their credentials. We shouldn't abandon a process based on trust, but we also need to make decisions based on information that is verifiable.

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Do college admissions officers verify what's on applications (opinion)

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"Can I just make something up?" A number of years ago one of my students asked that question about his college essay. He had what he thought was a great essay topic about how he had saved someone's life. The only problem was that the incident hadn't actually happened.

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Advice on Putting Together Your Application

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Students commonly want to know what part of the college application "carries the most weight." The truth is, there are many parts to your application, and together they help us discover and appreciate your particular mix of qualities. Academic criteria are important to Yale's selective admissions process, but we look at far more than test scores and grades.

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"When a student, parent, or surrogate makes contact with the admissions office, it is important to be aware that treating anyone on staff poorly - especially the administrative staff - may result in a negative outcome in the admissions process. Do not be dismissive of or assume that the professionals answering phone calls or email correspondence do not have any influence on the admissions process (they have a lot more impact on an applicant's candidacy than one might expect).

When a colleague puts down the phone and exclaims, 'That person was rude!,' I would immediately ask which applicant or prospective student was involved. Once the applicant or prospect is identified, a note gets promptly placed in the student's file. Duly noted!"

- José Román, former assistant director of admissions at Yale University

College admissions is a stressful process. But that never means you can be rude or pushy to anyone - anyone - working in or near an admissions office. Many schools track your and/or your parents' communication with that college, and even if they don't actively track your interest, admissions officers still take notes.

Even on the phone with administrators, make sure you present yourself the way you want to be viewed by your application reader. This one is good life advice in general: Be nice.

"As an admissions evaluator at Brown, we really had to keep up a rigorous reading pace with the regular decision applicant pool. We were expected to read five applications per hour, which equates to 12 minutes per application. In those 12 minutes, I reviewed the application, standardized test scores, the transcript, the personal statement, and multiple supplemental essays - all while taking notes and making a decision on the admissibility of the applicant."

- Erica Curtis, former admissions evaluator at Brown University

Take a minute to think about this. Knowing that admissions officers don't have a lot of time to read your materials, you should construct your own application accordingly.

Don't extend your personal statement into the additional information section. Don't attach a resume if this information already exists in the activities list. Don't send the school four additional letters of recommendation. These schools, frankly, don't have the time to read them.

"At Stanford, when reading applications, we did use one acronym in particular: SP (standard positive), which indicated that the student was solid and had an overall positive application, but unfortunately was just standard."

- Anonymous, former admissions reader at Stanford University

In thinking about the sheer amount of applications that admissions officers read, consider how you'll stand out in the pile. You don't want to be just "standard." You want to be different, memorable, and (to use another Stanford admissions term) angular.

"Before a student gets her admissions decision, she can go from admit to defer/waitlist or vice versa. Until the Dean of Admissions starts to shape the class, nothing is final. Sometimes admissions officers get lucky and can add back in one or two of their favorite students (who made it through committee, but for one reason or another were moved to 'defer' or 'waitlist' along the way). Admissions officers really care about the students for whom they advocate, but often it comes down to the needs of the school and the desire to have a well-rounded incoming class."

- Natalia Ostrowski, former assistant director of admissions at the University of Chicago

Even if you make a good case for yourself on your application, you still might not get in. Schools need to develop a well-rounded class. What this looks like can vary school-by-school and year-by-year, but balance is important in developing a strong freshman class.

Imagine if UChicago only admitted engineering applicants. The school would cease to be "UChicago" - it would be a pre-professional school! The other departments would be irrelevant, and the humanities faculty would have to be let go. Obviously this doesn't happen, so consider what new perspectives you could add to a school, department, and incoming class.

"As an admissions officer, I analyzed students' personalities. If I read an admissions essay, and the student came off as arrogant, entitled, mean, selfish, or, on the flip side, funny, charming, generous, witty, I wrote that exact trait in my notes. It's not enough just to be smart at top schools. Students must also show that they'll be good classmates and community builders."

- Angela Dunnham, former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College

You're more than your grades, test scores, and even your activities. You're a whole person! And you should think critically about how to present some of your softer qualities - your sense of humor, your deep curiosity, your ability to empathize with others - through the written parts of your application.

Schools don't just want "smart" students, they want to build a class of individuals who will make good classmates, roommates, teammates, leaders, and friends.

"If you are assigned an MIT alumni interviewer, definitely take advantage. There is a slightly higher admit rate for those applicants who take advantage of the interview."

- Vincent James, former assistant director of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A college interview is your chance to bring some more color and personality to your application. Conducting a great interview can give your application momentum and potentially push you into the "accepted" pile.

" My biggest pet peeve as an admissions officer was when a kid would visit the office, expect to have an audience with me, and then have no questions at all. Not even easy ones the website could answer! That tells me a lot about the student, not much of it good.

A sit-down with an AO is only awesome for a student's candidacy if the student is awesome too, and has used that meeting thoughtfully to leave a big impression of enthusiasm for ideas (general or specific), a program or particular aspect of the school, or a big add to campus in terms of personality. Many AO's won't even consent to sit-downs with individual students anymore, for precisely the reasons outlined above.

Bottom line: use your time - and the AO's - well."

- Cat McManus, former assistant dean of admissions at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvannia

Whether it's in the admissions office, during an interview, or on your application, indicating interest in a school is essential. Taking advantage of opportunities like meeting with an admissions officer or writing a "Why this school?" essay is key. Do your research, ask good questions, and demonstrate your fit for a school. Admissions officers are always taking notes!
Joel Butterly, Co-founder and CEO of InGenius Prep, is an admissions counselor and entrepreneur.

Read the original article on Contributor. Copyright 2018.

More: College Admission admissions essay College Acceptance College Applications

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7 admissions officers share the things they never tell applicants

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"When a student, parent, or surrogate makes contact with the admissions office, it is important to be aware that treating anyone on staff poorly - especially the administrative staff - may result in a negative outcome in the admissions process.

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This handout provides information about writing personal statements for academic and other positions.

The mistake people make most often is not to look at what the questions are asking. Some people prepare generic statements because they're applying to more than one school and it's a lot of work to do a personal essay for each school. On the other hand, generic statements detract from the applicant when we realize that we're one of six schools and the applicant is saying the same thing to each and every school despite the fact that there are critical differences between the kinds of schools they may be applying to. They don't take the time. They underestimate the kind of attention that is paid to these essays. Take a look at what the essay asks and deal with those issues articulately and honestly.

At least two, and sometimes three, people read each essay. I read them to make the final decision. Our process works so that each person who reads the application does a written evaluation of what hthey have read and the written evaluations are not seen by the other reader.

(Adapted from Stelzer, p. 49)

We're looking for a well-written, detailed essay that responds directly to the question. The questions are about extracurricular activities, motivation, challenges, commitment to the school, that kind of thing. We see a variety and that's fine. Our approach is very individualized. The way the applicant devises the answer, determines the length, develops the response, is all part of the answer. The level of effort applicants put into essays varies considerably, which sends messages to the admissions committee as well. Over-involved, elaborate essays send one message, while very brief and superficial essays send another message.

Trying to second-guess what we are looking for is a common mistake-which we can sense.

We can tell when applicants use answers to other schools' questions for our essays; we're sensitive to this. Poorly written essays are a bad reflection on the applicant.

Don't over-elaborate; we're reading a lot of these kinds of essays. Also, don't be too brief or superficial. We like to have major ideas presented well.

(Adapted from Stelzer, p. 55)

Applicants should take the time to look at what the law school is asking them to write about. At UCLA, we say, "We know you have lots of extracurricular activities-we want to know how you differ, what makes you unique? What can you bring to the first year class that's going to make you distinctive from the other 99 people who are already there?" The fact that you were active in your fraternity or sorority is really not going to do it. What we're looking for is somebody who, in their personal statement, stands out as being so unusual, so diverse, that they're extremely attractive as a law student for the first-year class. Maybe what's going to make them distinctive is the fact they spent six months living in a log cabin in Alaska. You try to give the law school some justification for admitting you. With a lot of people, there's nothing that's going to make them distinctive. If that's the case, they've got to recognize that, indeed, the essay is not going to make that much difference here at UCLA.

We're also asking if there's any reason their LSAT or grades are not predictive of their abilities. You'd be amazed at the number of people who completely ignore this-they don't take advantage of the opportunity.

Most law schools operate fairly similarly. There's a certain group of applicants whose grades and LSAT scores are so high that the presumption is that the applicants are going to be admitted unless they do something terribly stupid to keep themselves out. I have seen applicants whose personal statement has done that, but it's extremely rare. At the other extreme is another group of applicants who, no matter what they write, are not going to get in.

The applicant has to realize, first of all, where they stand. If you have a straight-A grade point average and a perfect LSAT score, you don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about your personal statement. On the other hand, if you know you're in the borderline area, that's where the personal statement becomes very, very important.

The applicant should take the time to read the application to see what the schools are asking for. Sometimes the school will ask for a general description of why you want to go to law school, or why they should admit you, something of that nature. In such case you can be fairly sure that the school is just interested in the essay to see how well you write. So what you say isn't as important as how you say it. On the other hand, some schools are more specific-UCLA being a very good example of that.

Make sure the essay is grammatically and technically correct and well written. Avoid sloppy essays, coffee stained essays, or ones that are handwritten so you can't read them. You'd be amazed at what we get!

(Stelzer, pp. 70-71)

We're trying to gauge the potential for a student's success in law school, and we determine that, principally, on the basis of what the student has done in the past. The personal statement carries the responsibility of presenting the student's life experiences.

Applicants make a mistake by doing a lot of speculation about what they're going to do in the future rather than telling us about what they've done in the past. It is our job to speculate, and we are experienced at that.

Applicants also tend to state and not evaluate. They give a recitation of their experience but no evaluation of what effect that particular experience had on them, no assessment of what certain experiences or honors meant.

They also fail to explain errors or weaknesses in their background. Even though we might wish to admit a student, sometimes we can't in view of a weakness that they haven't made any effort to explain. For example, perhaps they haven't told us that they were ill on the day that they took the LSAT or had an automobile accident on the way. Such things are legitimate reasons for poor performance. I mean, we understand that life is tough sometimes. We need to know what happened, for example, to cause a sudden drop in the GPA.

Another mistake is that everyone tries to make himself or herself the perfect law school applicant who, of course, does not exist and is not nearly as interesting as a real human being.

Between l and 5 people read each application.

(Stelzer, p. 72)

We look for some originality because nine out of ten essays leave you with a big yawn. "I like science, I like to help people and that's why I want to be a doctor." The common, uninteresting, and unoriginal statement is one that recounts the applicant's academic pursuits and basically repeats what is elsewhere in the application. You look for something different, something that will pique your interest and provide some very unique insight that will make you pay some notice to this person who is among so many other qualified applicants. If you're screening 5,500 applications over a four- or six-month period, you want to see something that's really interesting.

I would simply say: Do it yourself, be careful, edit it, go through as many drafts as necessary. And more important than anything: be yourself. Really show your personality. Tell us why you are unique, why we should admit you. The premise is that 9 out of 10 people who apply to medical school are very qualified. Don't under any circumstances insert handwritten work or an unfinished piece of writing. Do a professional job. I would consider it a mistake to attempt to cram in too much information, too many words. Use the space as judiciously as possible. Don't submit additional pages or use only 1/20th of the space provided.

(Stelzer, p.81)

We are looking for a clear statement that indicates that the applicant can use the English language in a meaningful and effective fashion. We frankly look at spelling as well as typing (for errors both in grammar and composition). Most applicants use the statement to indicate their motivation for medicine, the duration of that motivation, extracurricular activities, and work experience. So those are some of the general things we are looking for in the Personal Comments section.

We also want applicants to personalize the statement, to tell us something about themselves that they think is worthy of sharing with us, something that makes them unique, different, and the type of medical student and future physician that we're all looking for. What they have done in working with individuals-whether it's serving as a checker or bagger at a grocery store or working with handicapped individuals or tutoring inner city kids-that shows they can relate to people and have they done it in an effective fashion? What the applicant should do in all respects is to depict why they are a unique individual and should be sought after. Of course, if they start every sentence on a whole page with "I," it gets to be a little bit too much.

(Stelzer, p. 82)

An excellent source of help is a book available in the Writing Lab (2nd Floor Krach Leadership Center): Richard Stelzer's How to Write a Winning Personal Statement for Graduate and Professional School (Princeton, NJ: Peterson's Guides, 1989). $9.95

The book has guidelines for writing, examples of successful statements, and advice from admissions officers. This handout summarizes Stelzer's guidelines and contains a few of the examples he includes of statements and admissions officers' advice. If you wish to read more examples and do not purchase the book, you may read the Writing Lab's copy, which is on reserve in the lab.

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Advice from Admissions Officers - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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This handout provides information about writing personal statements for academic and other positions. The mistake people make most often is not to look at what the questions are asking. Some people prepare generic statements because they're applying to more than one school and it's a lot of work to do a personal essay for each school.

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The admissions committee that decides whether or not you get into your dream school can often seem shrouded in mystery. Who, exactly, are these people? A group of soulless office workers who delight in stamping "Rejected" across applications? A team of well-trained robots who data-mine your application and input it into an algorithm?

While it may seem like the admissions committee process is secretive, that's actually not the case. Admissions committees are made up of real, live humans whose sole job is to put together the best incoming class possible for their college or university.

Let's learn a little more about college admissions committees.

What Is an Admission Committee?

A college admissions committee is a group of people who work together to make decisions about who is accepted as part of the next matriculating class.

Admissions committees are made up of admissions staffers - university employees whose job it is to assess each applicant and decide whether or not he or she is a good fit for acceptance.

Most highly selective schools are fairly secretive or nebulous about their admissions process, but many public schools have guaranteed admission for students who meet certain criteria, as well as offer specific information about expected scores and GPAs for applicants. The vast majority have multiple people read your application to decide whether or not you'll be accepted.

Who Reads My Admission Application?

Your college application will likely be read by at least two groups of people - regional staffers and the wider admissions committee, which may be made up of deans, faculty members, and even current students.

Regional staffers are college admissions employees who focus on your specific geographical region. They are typically the people who travel to college fairs in your region and may conduct interviews. You might have met them before, if you attended a college fair at your school or in your area.

The rest of the admissions committee can be structured differently, depending on the college or university. Often, there are deans or other high-ranking members of the admissions office who participate in the second read-through of your application. If you're applying to a specific school or program, faculty members who know their coursework may be part of the decision, as they have a good sense of who can handle their classes.

Some schools include students on the admissions committee, who speak to whether or not applicants would be a good addition to the larger school community and student body.

Over the past few months, the lawsuit against Harvard's discrimination towards Asian students offered insight into the previously highly secretive process.

The admissions committee at Harvard assesses the grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, intended majors, ethnicities, and regional background of every student. From this information, we can assume that other highly competitive and secretive schools use similar criteria. While you obviously can't control your ethnicity or where you live, you can control the rest of your application, so it's important to put as much effort in your grades, essays, and extracurriculars as possible.

What Is a Typical Admissions Committee Process?

Very few schools divulge what happens during their admissions process or give specific, data-driven criteria.

That being said, schools like Harvard have released the questions that admissions committee members ask themselves as they're reviewing your application. Here's a sample of some of the questions Harvard admission committee members consider:

Have you been stretching yourself academically and personally?

How have you used your time?

Do you have initiative? Are you a self-starter?

Do you care deeply about anything - intellectual? Extracurricular? Personal?

How open are you to new ideas and people?

Will you contribute something to Harvard and to your classmates? Will you benefit from your Harvard experience?

While the specific questions may vary from school to school, the basic gist is the same. Schools want to know whether or not you've been challenging yourself and how you'll contribute to their campus and classrooms.

Most college admissions committees have at least a two-step process for applicants. First, applications are read by regional staffers. These admissions committee members look over your application for basic qualifications like grades, test scores, and extracurriculars to make sure you match up to the standards of the typical matriculating student.

If those qualifications match up, your application will be brought to the wider admission committee, made up of senior admissions faculty, deans, professors, and maybe even students. Together, that committee discusses your application and makes a decision on whether or not to admit you.

Recap: Understanding the Admission Committee

A college admissions committee is a group of people who read your application and decide whether or not you'll be a good fit to attend their school.

Considering that most colleges and universities have at least two read through of each student they consider a good fit, you want to make sure that your qualifications are obvious enough to pass through the first read and move on to the second. That means that your grades and test scores should be close to the middle range of scores for accepted applicants at your school so that you'll be considered.

You also want to make sure that the qualitative parts of your application are up to snuff as well. Consider what the admissions committee will be asking themselves about you. What does your academic, extracurricular, and personal record demonstrate? What story have you told about who you are and how you might contribute to the college or university of your dreams?

What's Next?

Looking for application tips for some of the most selective schools? Read our complete guides to the University of California system and to the Georgetown application.

Should you apply early or regular decision to college? Find out the pros and cons of early decision in this article.

Not sure what to major in? Get expert advice in our guide to choosing a college major, and learn the five main factors to consider before you declare a major.

Want to build the best possible college application?
We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

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Who Is the Admission Committee? What Do They Look For?

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The admissions committee that decides whether or not you get into your dream school can often seem shrouded in mystery. Who, exactly, are these people? A group of soulless office workers who delight in stamping "Rejected" across applications? A team of well-trained robots who data-mine your application and input it into an algorithm?

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I read the "Ethical College Admissions: Trust and Verify" article. I think the most important thing I learned from this article was the fact that you shouldn't lie on any collage application and there's really no benefit to doing it anyway. People who read your applications don't exactly have the time to verify if what you say is true or not, and frankly they don't care for heroism nearly as much as they care about what you've actually accomplished relating to your college.